Del Los Santos leads Pelicans

Myrtle Beach starting pitcher Miguel Del Los Santos was already having a big week. It got even bigger in Wednesday night's 8-3 victory over the Salem Red Sox.

On Sunday, Del Los Santos celebrated his 23rd birthday. Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of his signing with the Texas Rangers, another wake-up call on his time schedule to make it up the minor-league baseball ladder.

And on Wednesday, making his first start at BB&T Coastal Field, the lefthander responded by pitching five shutout innings of one-hit baseball, perhaps a sign that he is finally on course to righting his injury-plagued career. Del Los Santos (2-1) struck out six batters en route to his first victory at home.

Del Los Santos blew out his arm in his second season in the Rangers organization and had to undergo Tommy John surgery. His recovery has been a roller coaster ride since returning in 2008, being demoted to Advanced-A Myrtle Beach last month due to tendinitis in his arm.

After splitting his first two starts on the road, Del Los Santos looked like a new pitcher Wednesday with a fastball in the low-90s and an unhittable changeup.

He wasn't the only member of the team who seemed happy to be back home. The Pelicans provided plenty of run support by scoring in each of the first three innings.

It was a stark contrast to a squad that went 3-7 on its 10-game, three-city road trip. The Pelicans are 27-12 at home this season and only 22-27 on the road.

The Pelicans wasted no time getting comfortable in the friendly confines, with Leury Garcia taking a lead-off walk in the first inning and Jared Bolden following it up with a two-run home run to right-center field. Ryan Strausborger then doubled and scored on Zach Zaneski's RBI single for an early 3-0 advantage.

Bolden struck again in the second, this time with a double that plated Garcia all the way from first. Andres James added an RBI sac fly in the third to score

Santiago Chirino from third and he came through with an RBI single in the fifth inning to spark another three-run frame that chased Salem starter Stolmy Pimentel.

Del Los Santos' lone hit was a double in the second to Miles Head. Reliever Chad Bell came on in the seventh and allowed a single but settled down to close it out.

Recent call-up Ryan Rodebaugh came on in tbe eighth and promptly gave up a three-run homer to Jorge Padron that cut the deficit to 8-3. Joe

Ortiz came in for Rodebaugh to close out the game, which went on without delay despite light rain and lightning flashes in the distance.

Notes

The Pelicans' roster has undergone several changes since their last homestand two weeks ago. On July 6, pitcher Justin Grimm was placed on the disabled list and was replaced by Kasey Kiker, who was recalled from the DL. First baseman Chris McGuiness also joined the DL on July 8 and the Pelicans added pitcher Ryan Rodebaugh to the roster from Low-A Hickory. The next day, third baseman Mitch Hilligoss got the call up to Double-A Frisco and Johnathan Roof was promoted from Hickory to take his roster spot. ... The Pelicans and Red Sox could have saved a lot of time on the road and gas money by flipping a coin instead of playing games. The series record stands at 124-124 after Wednesday's game.